Vacation...Week 2

My second week of vacation was filled with trips to visit my kids and my naming Hash. On Tuesday, I went to visit 2 of my girls that live very close to each other. I had great visits with both. The next day I went to visit another one of my girls. In the afternoon, 3 of the girls came over. I’m enjoying spending so much time with the girls in my family. I’m realizing that you really get to know someone when you get to know their families and see them in a different environment. On Thursday, I headed to the eastern province for more visits. My first stop was Rwamagana. The first girl that I visited kept we very busy visiting everyone in her family. My next stop was Kayonza where I was greeted with a lovely meal. All these visits continue to show me that I made the right decision in visiting my family in the vacation.


I made my way back to Agahozo and spent Friday with a needed day of rest. I also went to Rubona where Solomon helped me prepare for the next day’s festivities. We set all the arrangements at the bar in Ruboba, picked out our goat for the brochettes, and found someone to fry bananas. I’ve talked a lot about Hash. After you attend 10 hashes, you receive a hash name from the group. It was finally my turn…and even better, I get to do it with my friend Michelle! Michelle and her husband Nate came on Friday night so that we could set the Hash Saturday morning. We woke up on Saturday and were joined by Elana (a friend of mine who I met in Israel and is working for the summer in Tanzania) and Uyen. The 4 of us embarked to set our trail with shredded paper. We started the trail at the mango tree in the village. The trail wound its way to the farm, past the cows and chickens. We then left Agahozo and began to lay a trail through Rubona. As we passed the Catholic Church there must have been 60 kids that emerged. They were very curious about the shredded pieces of paper that we were placing on the ground. Many kids began to follow us as we continued to set the trail. The trail ended at the bar in Rubona.

I sat around anxiously awaiting the arrival of everyone. It was killing me. I was so excited and just wanted everyone to arrive. I got a call from the group as they were leaving Kigali and got news that many people were coming. Finally, they were here! Michelle and I went to greet everyone at the gate with some fun hats on. When everyone arrived, we circled up by the mango tree and then we were off. Michelle led the walkers and I led the runners. We had 2 check points which means that the trail could be in any direction. People have to go scout out the correct trail. The correct trail is the one that has 3 piles of shreddies in a row.


The trail ended in Rubona. We were greeted with water, soda, beer, and decorations by Solomon. We had the outside area and a room inside. Solomon decorated the room with a fun welcome sign. Once everyone arrived, Rambo circled us up. Michelle and I were brought into the circle and everyone said what they thought of the trail. A song was sung and then we had to drink. Other people were brought to the center including new people and people who have missed too many hashes. Finally it was time…for my naming. I have been scared for months. Many of the hash names are very sexual or inappropriate. I had no idea what kind of name that I would get. I was brought into the middle and people asked me many questions. I was sent away as the rest of the group deliberated. After some time, I was brought back to the circle. I was told to kneel down and I was told my name as beer and dirt were poured all over me. I finally have my hash name…PussyCat!